⭐️ 4,5/5
🌶️ 3/5 (moderate steam)
All Wrapped Up is an age-gap festive romance between struggling actor Rick Thornton and drama student Jayden Collins, who land a gig playing Santa and his Elf at a local mall.
The writing in this book is genuinely excellent — such a breath of fresh air after DNFing two books in a row due to bad writing. White has crafted a really well made novel that pulls on your heartstrings!
Jayden and Rick have a grumpy/sunshine dynamic that I really enjoyed. Rick is bitter, drinking his sorrows away, while Jayden is very cheerful and witty. There are so many elf and santa jokes in this book that I found hilarious and even laughed out loud a couple of times!
”I am just a bit Santa-mental”
The spicy scenes were really well written. I enjoyed how important consent was to Rick. It wasn’t just sex, they made love, and it was so nice seeing how cared for Jayden felt.
Rick’s character growth was really satisfying to see and so sweet too see how much he cares for Jayden. Rick’s parents were so sweet as well.
I haven’t really watched any hallmark christmas movies but I feel like this book was really giving me those vibes in the best way possible! It was very cozy and heartwarming and a perfect read during christmas time.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did an amazing job! I really enjoyed him having an authentic (at least to me) yorkshire and english accents. His narration elevated these characters even further and it was just a great audiobook experience!
Thank you GRR for giving me the audiobook to review!
(very minor spoiler but i was kicking my legs when we found out that Jayden had no money but still bought Rick coffee)